It was in October of 2005 that I started this blog. Never in my wildest dreams did I think 15 years later I’d still be plugging away, week after week posting, but here I am. Fifteen years this month. Allow me to please take a quick look backwards, especially for those of you new folks who found me thanks to GlassBuild.
Well here we are, another month down as we steam toward the end (thankfully) of 2020. And, also, with the end of the month comes the end of the awesome GlassBuild Connect event. It has been a heck of a run, and this week it finishes strong with some amazing panels.
587 young inventors participated in the 2020 Connecticut Invention Convention. Winners will participate in the National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship Expo.
The big news from the industry this week was the announced planned retirement of Apogee CEO Joe Puishys. I have been a huge fan of Joe’s from the first time I heard him speak at BEC and believe he is an excellent leader and representative of our industry.
This past week at GlassBuild Connect, Connor Lokar from ITR Economics delivered an incredible performance―more than 75 minutes of detailed intel and dives in the economic landscape. For all of us though I think the thing to focus on is “how are we going to deal with it?” How are we going to pivot and/or diversify our offering, our staffing, our approaches.
U.S. industry is confronting a different economic landscape this year, and the glass and metals industry is no different. This year’s Top Metal Companies report will offer a comprehensive look at the market trends and pressures facing industry companies.
There are two major, can’t-miss presentations coming this week. On Tuesday, the most comprehensive and independent economic forecast focused on our industry happens. Connor Lokar is a tremendous speaker with impressive credentials on the economic side of things. Then Wednesday, Jorma Vitkala makes his final major industry event presentation―Global Glass Industry Trends at 1 p.m. ET.
It is finally here. GlassBuild Connect kicks off this week, and for the next month we’ll be focused on the best that our industry has to offer. Obviously, this year is like no other and GlassBuild being an online experience is like nothing else out there. I am honored to work on the team there to bring you a truly genuine and caring event.
The latest Architectural Billings Index results were released this past week and they came in pretty much like I expected. Still not great, and not what we had been used to, but they were better than what they were and what they could be.